Known sedation delivery systems include drug-delivery conscious sedation systems. A known drug-delivery conscious sedation system is disclosed in United States Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0017299. In that system, a controller analyzed physiological parameters of the patient (such as blood pressure, etc.) and generated a request for a predetermined response from a patient. The controller analyzed the time delay between the request and the response to determine a level of sedation of the patient. When the time delay between the request and the response increased, the controller determined that the patient was in a deeper level of sedation and decreased the flow of a conscious sedation drug to the patient.
It is known to administer a pre-procedure single bolus of fentanyl (a drug having an analgesic effect) to a patient 2-3 minutes before the start of an infusion of propofol (a drug having a sedative effect) to the patient for a conscious (AKA minimal-to-moderate) sedation procedure.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,071,933 discloses several co-formulations (i.e., fixed combinations) of propofol and remifentanil (a drug having an analgesic and a sedative effect) used for patient-controlled anesthesia.
Still, scientists and engineers continue to seek improved methods and sedation delivery systems having a pump assembly and a co-formulation of first and second drugs.